Sale packs blamed as 4-bed homes market shrinks

Estate agents and surveyors claimed yesterday that the number of three-bedroom homes being put up for sale will fall after the government launched the second phase of its home information pack scheme. Two leading trade bodies issued figures showing that many sellers of homes with four or more bedrooms have been shunning the housing market after the Hips regime went live for larger properties on August 1.

The National Association of Estate Agents and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warned that the same was likely to happen in the three-bedroom property market now that the scheme has been expanded to cover these.

Vendors of such properties will need to assemble a pack, typically at a cost of £300-£500, and include in it detailed information about the property.

About 80,000 three-bedroom properties come on to the market in a typical month, according to the property website Rightmove. This is in addition to the 35,000 homes with four or more bedrooms put up for sale each month. But the NAEA said its latest survey of members, covering August, showed that the number of four bedroom-plus properties on the market fell in many areas.

More than six in 10 agents reported decreases in the number of larger properties on their books above what was normal for the time of year. "On average, agents reported drops of 37%. Homeowners staying out of the market to avoid Hips was cited as the main reason for the decrease," it said.